International Journal of Agricultural Sciences

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 697-703, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
 

Full Length Research Paper

Responses of yield on grain amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.) varieties to varying planting density and soil amendment

Oluwatonyi O. E

Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted at the Experimental Farm of the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan, Nigeria (7° 30' N, 3° 50' E), at altitude 168 m above the sea level, during the 2010 and 2011 cropping seasons, to assess the yield responses of two grain amaranth varieties (TE81/28 and CEN 18/97) to planting densities (100,000, 60,000 and 40,000 plants ha^-1) and soil amendments (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 kg N ha^-1 organic fertilizer and 100 kg N ha ^-1 inorganic fertilizer). The experiment, designed as 2 x 3 x 6 factorial and fitted to randomized complete block design (RCBD) was laid out in split-split-plots and replicated three times. Measurements were taken on yield components (dry matter, biological yield, unthreshed seed weight and harvest index) and grain yield. All data were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the split-split-plots model and significant means separated by the least significant difference at five percent probability level (LSD_0.05). The results revealed that grain amaranth gave optimum grain yield responses when grown at a planting density of 60,000 plants ha^-1 and with the application of soil amendment at 100 kg N ha^-1 inorganic fertilizer, while the grain yield was significantly (p < 0.01) higher with the CEN18/97 amaranth variety than in the TE81/28 across soil amendment and planting density treatments in both years of assessment. However, significant second order interaction effects of variety x planting density x soil amendment observed in the study revealed that grain yield was best with variety TE81/28 planted at 60,000 plants/ha density with the application of 100 kg N/ha of inorganic soil amendment. In conclusion, results of this study revealed that the application of inorganic fertilizer was the best soil amendment treatment for the grain amaranth production. Nevertheless, the results suggested that the use of organic fertilizer at the rate higher than 100 kg N ha^-1 holds a great potential as an alternative, where the use of inorganic fertilizer has an issue, especially for environmental and health reasons.

Key words: Grain amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L), responses to, organic and inorganic fertilizers, planting density.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 685-692, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Colonization of fish through artificial reefs in the Persian Gulf (Bandar Lengeh-Iran): Reef designs and seasonal changes of fish abundance

*Daryush Akbar Shokof, Javad Sadeghi and Andre Farahani

Department of Biology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: prof.daryush2@ en.sbu.ac.ir

Abstract

Artificial reefs are used as a management tool to compensate for overfishing and anthropogenic degradation. In the present study, to find the best artificial structure for enhancing of fish yields, the values of total fish catch and its seasonal changes were investigated in different forms of artificial structures placed in costal waters of Persian Gulf (Bandar-e-Lengeh-Iran). For this purpose, eight treatments including different forms of artificial reefs, reef ball (RB), fish house (FH), non-designed materials (ND), RB+FH, RB+ND, FH+ND and RB+ND+FH and one control group (C) were established. At each site, the fish sampling were carried out every three months for one year. According to data, total fish catch was higher significantly in RB+ND+FH treatment than in other experimental reef structures. As well as, the total fish yields in spring season were significantly higher than in other seasons. The catch composition data showed that Epinephelus coioides with 65% allocates the main quota of total catch on experimental artificial structures. In conclusion, the results indicated that artificial structures especially a complex of RB+ND+FH are more suitable for enhancing of fish catch successes in inshore waters of Bandar Lengeh.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 676-681, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Assessment of heterosis and features of gene activity for yield and its components in faba bean (VICIA FABA L.)

*Saad Ebeid, Hussein Zaghloul and Atef Pasha Sirri

Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: Saad [email protected]

Abstract

Five Egyptian parental genotypes of Faba bean were used for carrying out half diallel design to study heterosis and nature of gene action for earliness, vegetative, yield and yield components traits. Mean squares of genotypes were found to be highly significant for all studied traits. The results showed that the majority of crosses exhibited significant heterosis estimates for better parent for all studied traits. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) mean squares were highly significant for all studied traits. The results indicated that the magnitude of additive genetic variance (σ²A) were positive and lower than those of non additive (σ²D) one for all the studied traits, indicating that non additive gene action played a major role in the inheritance of different traits under study. The broad sense heritability estimates (H²_b %) were more than their corresponding narrow sense heritability (H²_n %) for all studied traits. However, estimates of narrow sense heritability were 34.2 and 14.8% for earliness traits and ranged from 15.2 to 29.8% for number of branches per plant and plant height, respectively. Respecting to yield components, the estimates of narrow sense heritability ranged from 8.8 to 70.9% for number of pod per plant and weight of 100 seed (g), respectively. The results showed that the two cultivar, Giza 843 (P₄) and Misr 2 (P1) was good general combiner for earliness, yield and yield components, respectively. The cross (P₁xP₅) showed desirable SCA effects and significant heterosis values for earliness, and yield components. While, the two crosses, (P₁xP₃) and (P₃xP₄) exhibited desirable SCA effects for vegetative traits. These promising crosses could be used for breeding programs to produce pure lines.

Key words: Faba bean, general combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA), heterosis, gene action.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (3), pp. 610-615, May, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Seasonal occurrence of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) and its associated natural enemies in major crucifer growing areas of Kenya

Moses G. Balala

Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya.

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Seasonal incidences of Plutella xylostella, diamondback moth (DBM) and its associated natural enemies were investigated in two agro-ecological zones of the major crucifer growing areas of Kenya in 2005 and 2006. DBM larvae and pupae were collected from the cabbage and kale crops grown in farmers’ field and maintained in the laboratory for the emergence of parasitoid or DBM. Four larval, one larval-pupal and one pupal parasitoid species were recorded from DBM. The parasitoids recovered were Diadegma semiclausum, Diadegma mollipla, Itoplectis spp., Cotesia plutellae, Apanteles spp., Oomyzus sokolowskii and Brachymeria species. D. semiclausum was the most dominant species throughout with highest parasitism rates of over 70% recorded in the highlands. C. plutellae, Apanteles and Brachymeria were recovered from mid-altitude semi-arid areas. Generally, parasitism was significantly higher on Brassica oleracea var. capitata. D. semiclausum displaced the indigenous parasitoids from B. oleracea var. capitata.

Key words: Brassica oleracea, parasitoids, diamondback moth, seasons, agro-ecological zones.

International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 715-720, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A study of the effects of genotype, explant type and nutrient medium components on canola (Brassica napus L.) shoot in vitro organogenesis

*Golshifteh R. Pedrad, Maz E. Karimloo and Nazanin Jobrani

Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Payame Noor University, Iran.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

The objective of the study was to develop an efficient method for shoot regeneration of canola (Brassica napus L.) and to compare the regeneration capacity of different explants on MS medium with several combinations of plant growth regulators. The experiments showed that the morphogenetical potential of canola depends on genotype, primary explant, hormonal structure and concentration of nutrient medium. Cotyledons possessed higher regeneration ability in comparison to hypocotyls and roots. The best regeneration capability was exhibited by the cultivar 'Quantum'. Its frequency with cotyledonary explants reached 68.8% on all used media. Addition of 3 mg/l ABA in nutrient medium considerably increased the regeneration frequency. The highest shoot regeneration (100%), however, took place when cotyledonary explants were cultivated on medium, containing 1.0 mg/l NAA, 8.0 mg/l BAP and 3.0 mg/l ABA. Precultivation of explants on callus induction medium did not affect the shoot regeneration frequency. Vitrification of regenerants was promoted by increasing the auxin NAA or cytokinin BAP, and ABA in the nutrient medium.

Key words: Brassica napus, shoot regeneration, cotyledonary explants, nutrient medium, seedlings, vitrification.